Those evil liberals. It seems that liberal propaganda is invading the Hollidaysburg school district, threatening the poor, vulnerable minds of the innocent children of the district who are too young to know any better. At least, that is the belief of one school board member; Republican Lois Kaneshiki.

What a brave stand she is making for the hearts and minds of our children, probably in the face of a board packed with liberal university professors and bleeding heart soccer moms. Let’s go to the award winning Altoona Mirror* for the scoop.

Hollidaysburg Area School Board member Lois Kaneshiki voted against the board’s sociology textbook adoption on Wednesday, saying the book was liberal propaganda.

The other eight board members approved the $2,000 expense for new high school sociology books, trusting teachers and administrators’ recommendations.

Kaneshiki reviewed the book and said she was opposed because it presents economically and socially liberal opinion as fact. She took particular issue with the book’s “activities” section.

Okay, my wingnut sense is a tingling. As someone who has taken a Sociology course or two at the university level, I get the feeling that her problem is with the entire subject of sociology rather than this particular book. What makes me say that? I mean, isn’t she a brave conservative warrior standing alone on a school board filled with non-Duck Dynasty watching liberals? Oh come on. This is Blair County, Pennsylvania, part of 2010’s most conservative congressional district in the state. In the last school board election there was a grand total of one registered Democrat on the ballot. Most of the time the Democratic candidates are Republicans who cross-filed for both parties for the elections. Here is the Hollidaysburg school board. Their party affiliations aren’t mentioned, but let’s figure it out. Vonada, Frye, Yoder, Kaneshiki, and Gregory were all elected in the 2015 election. You know, the one where Kelly Hinkledire (who got slimed, along with Vonada, during the race, for what it’s worth) was the only registered Democrat on the ballot. In 2013, Swope and McClain were both endorsed by the Blair County Tea Party, at least according to this group post made by one Lois Kaneshiki. Brennemen and Sommer also claimed their seats in 2013, and I’ll be damned if I can find their party affiliations anywhere. They were both endorsed by the AFL-CIO , so “Democrats” immediately springs to mind, but Sommer ran in 2011 as Vonada’s campaign partner, so…

TL;DR? The board isn’t stacked with liberals against poor ole Lois. If the Blair County Dems are wrong, then their is an outside chance the board has three Democrats. More likely there are between 2 and zero Democratic board members. (For what it is worth, I personally think school board elections should be non-partisan, but if you want to know where the partisan shit started, I’ll give you a hint: They take their name from a famous event that took place during the birth of the United States. And it rhymes with Flea Barky.)

So if the board isn’t full of Ivory Tower liberals, then what did the rest of the administrators think of the book?

High School Principal Maureen Letcher said the book is written like other sociology books. Its “activities” sections, which a teacher can choose not to use, she said, are meant to put students in a certain mindset to begin a discussion on both sides.

Letcher said the book is not the entire curriculum, but only one part.

Yeah, well that’s only the Principal. Who cares what she thinks.

Board member Ron Yoder said he skimmed the book and did not feel it was one-sided.

Ouch. He’s pretty damn conservative. I mean, what a RINO!!!! The article continues with the principal explaining the districts procedure for selecting textbooks. But we close with Brennemen giving Kaneshiki a condescending pat on the head, so that’s a plus. I mean, see!!! He must be a Democrat!

Board member Scott Brenneman, also a teacher at Penn State Altoona, said he applauded Kaneshiki for digging into the book.

The book, “Sociology: The study of Human Relationships,” had been on display for public view for more than 30 days.

Brenneman said after speaking with district administrators and learning about the process of how the book was researched and recommended, he approved.

Oh wait, he is a university professor? Stone him!! I mean, why would we care what he thought about a textbook?

Poor Lois. Won’t someone please stand up for the poor persecuted conservatives and the impressionable children who need to be taught that racism and sexism are over while poor people get what they deserve?

*Conflict of Interest notice. I am an independent contractor for the Altoona Mirror. They are an award winning newspaper, though I feel that they concentrate on sports to the detriment of actual news far too often, and their political leanings are a bit too obviously right of center for my tastes. Sorry, no. Printing the occasional column by Froma Harrop, Mark Shields, or Connie Shultz on days they don’t write anything objectionable to conservative sensibilities does not wash out the usual stream of L. Brent Bozell, Michelle Malkin, Thomas Sowell, George Will, Cal Thomas, Walter E. Williams, Ben Shapiro, and *gag* Jonah Goldberg that normally pollutes the opinion pages. While I’m at it, why exactly is Doonesbury on the opinion page while Mallard Fucking Fillmore stays on the Sunday Comics page? Is it because to really teach a kid to hate, you got to get them while they’re young, and what better place than the comics page?

For as conservative of an area that this is, I guess it could be much worse. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a column printed by Ann Coulter, and I mainly trust the actual news coverage. Well, I trust it more than Fox News or the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, but less than national network news, the Washington Post, New York Times, or the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. The conservative lean of the paper outside the editorial pages is more selectively choosing which stories to print rather than the Fox method of just outright lying. It is what it is.

Anyway, that is my conflict of interest when I write about the Altoona Mirror. With where I live, it is probably the best local paper I could reasonably expect, and I am currently an independent contractor for them. In the interest of transparency, take that into account when I mention the Altoona Mirror. And in the interest of not boring myself or any readers to death, that is the last I will ever say of it.

About the Author

Described as "intelligent but self-destructive," Foster Disbelief spent his twenties furiously attempting to waste his potential in a haze of religion and heroin. Science and atheism allowed him to escape his twin addictions and he now spends his days attempting to make the most of his three remaining brain cells.